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red sox world series victories always seem to coincide with some strange celestial event, like the stuff of omens. in 2004, it was a partial lunar eclipse. in 2007, it was comet holmes, as seen through the binoculars from my parents' backyard. so i just had a feeling the red sox would win tonight and sweep the colorado rockies to take the world series. my story book prediction that the rockies would capture the lead - only to be defeated by the red sox in a heroic comeback - never did come true as the red sox scored an early run in the first inning. i watched with julie, who seemed to be writhing on the floor in pain, terrified that the red sox would lose tonight (despite the fact that they were up 3-0 in the series). (john) lester the colorado molester pitched well; for a guy who beat cancer, facing the rockies should be a piece of cake. the red sox managed to add another run in the 5th, and then a run each in the 7th and 8th inning. however, the rockies staged a comeback, and came within a single run to push the score to 4-3. in a repeat of yesterday's game, they couldn't get anymore runs the game ended when papelbon struck out the final batter. our 230 lbs. catcher veritek - normally very stoic - double pumped his fists and jumped onto papelbon on the mound (and did you see what veritek did with the final ball? he put it in his pocket! $$$!). and just like that it was over. it felt unreal, like maybe there should be another series after this. galactic series. it took 86 years to win the last world series, and now this 2nd world series victory of the 21st century comes just after 3 short years. at this rate, people will expect the red sox to win every year, and honestly, why not?

after the game, we drove around looking for spontaneous acts of celebration. surprisingly, harvard square was almost empty, despite a dozen motorcycle police officer stationed nearby. a group of noisy bar patrons dressed in halloween costumes were shuffling down JFK street and cheering. along mass ave, small groups of people were seen congregating on the sidewalks. maybe everyone was waiting for something to happen that wasn't going to. the weather certainly wasn't conducive to partying, with temperature hovering just above freezing. there seemed to be some more action in davis square but police cars had blocked off the main road and officers were redirecting traffic away from that square. back at home, split screen television shots were showing the red sox celebration in the clubhouse while juxtaposed with helicopter footage of mobs of red sox fans walking the streets of kenmore square.

i woke up late this morning. i surprised zhu lei and weier when i came out of my bedroom, they both thought i wasn't home, and were quietly enjoy their breakfast in the kitchen. after i had an egg and prosciutto bagel sandwich, i got dressed and prepared to leave to my parents' place. i said good-bye to weier, who was going back to delaware today. her flight was 4pm, it was already 1:30 when i left.

since i had nothing better to do, i figured i'd do some more painting. since i might be busy this coming week, i saw this afternoon as my last day of painting. my father was sick at home with a possible case of the flu, and i arrived with some medicine i picked up at the newly minted rite aid (formerly brook drugs). when i got to belmont, he was in the kitchen priming the cabinets, the whole time coughing. while he was doing that, i finished the rest of the walls with a coat of yellow. i had the patriots game on in the background, final score 52-7. it's almost a hate crime what the pats are doing to their opponents. next week's colts matchup (who are still unbeaten, just like new england) will be our own little superbowl. by the time my mother came home in the evening, we were just about to finish. while she prepared dinner, i was outside in the backyard looking at comet 17P in the perseus constellation. it's actually visible with the naked eye, but appears to be just a star. however, viewed through a pair of binoculars, it's readily identifiable as a large and fuzzy grey blob, with no distinguishing characteristics to indicate it's a comet.

after dinner i raced back home. zhu lei was heating up some mini pizzas in the toaster oven. i asked if his girlfriend made her flight. "no she didn't," he said. apparently they got to the airport but couldn't figure out which terminal she was supposed to leave from. by the time they figured it out, the flight had already left. fortunately the airline managed to reschedule her for the next departure free of charge. later julie arrived to watch the world series. even though i told her it was okay to be loud, i think it probably freaked out zhu lei, who never once left his bedroom to say hello. i'll probably have to apologize tomorrow.